Mppo Final

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Identifying patterns of

Success

Submitted to L Prasad

Arit Kumar Mondal (1011084)

Bhavika Kansara (1011090)Mahidhar Surapaneni (1011106)

Prateek Bhurat (1011123)

Varun Bahri (1011142)

12/6/2010

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I Defining Career Success

Success means different things to different people. What is success for me may be a failure for

you or vice versa. Under this premise we tried to look for various definitions of success defined

in research literature over the past 2 decades.

Career success: can be defined as the real (objective) or perceived (subjective) achievements

individuals have accumulated as a result of their work experiences i. Career success can be

divided intoii:

Extrinsic success (External): is relatively objective and observable, and typicallyconsists of highly visible outcomes such as pay, number of promotions

iii. Another

metric of extrinsic success gaining popularity off-late has been Occupational Status

the attainment of high status and prestigious jobsiv

. Most researchers we looked

at used Occupational status and a measure of extrinsic success.

Figure 1 from contemporary researchvviviiviii

Intrinsic success (Internal):is defined as an individuals subjective reactions to his or her own

career, and is most commonly measured by job satisfactionix

. Job satisfaction is the most

relevant aspect. Individuals who are dissatisfied with many aspects of their current jobs are

unlikely to consider their careers, at least at present, as particularly successful consider job

satisfaction as the most salient aspect of career successx.

Career success is ______?

This is the question we asked a group of approximately 100 students at IIM Bangalore and tried

to get open ended answers without constricting answers by choices to prevent imposition of our

perceptions of power and authority afforded by the job

the single most important dimension in social interaction

increased job-related responsibilities and rewards

Required educational skills, potential extrinsic rewards offeredby the occupation

single most important sign of sucess in contemporary society

OccupationalStatus

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definition on the subjects. We received varied responses which ranged from conventional to pure

bizarre. We have listed a set of responses from the responses in the table below.

IIM Bangalore Study Similar study in Nottingham UK

Extrinsic (47%) Intrinsic (53%) Extrinsic (38%) Intrinsic

(62%)WealthHealth

Women

Affection

Health relationships& Friendship

Prestige

Wine

EverythingNeed

WantAn AddictionCompetition

Proving to others

HappinessLove

Self-esteem

Satisfaction

GratificationNothing

Peace

Nonsense never ending

life termA Weakness

Game of fortuneFreedomPushing yourself to the

limit

Re-defining boundaries

Design/methodology/approach A totalof 36 in-depth interviews were undertaken

with MBA alumni who sought to capture

the individual's own account of their

career success in relation to their MBA.The study utilized an inductive data

analysis approach.

Findings The findings revealed a

diversity of meanings given to MBAcareer success, with success generally

being expressed in much broader termsthan conventional notions of fast trackcareer advancement. The salience of

internal criteria for judging MBA career

success is thus highlighted. The findingsmay be seen to further dispel the myth

that MBA students are concerned

exclusively with status and salary.

Learning for IIMB students: MBA and career success

Most IIM students are looking for intrinsic success similar to students abroad. The IIM B

community has a higher percentage of people looking for extrinsic success. This can be caused

due to relatively low work experience. But clearly the majority is not driven by salary or status.Another deduction is that security is valued more in the Indian context and forcing choices on

individual causes them to be ignorant of inner satisfaction and success. Family obligation also

contributes to the choice of extrinsic factor choice by Indian students.

II Individual theories of success

These are broadly divided into two types of theories. The first type focuses on personality traits

(Nature) and the other on human capital (Nurture).

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1. Trait theory of Success NATUREWe concentrated on correlation studies between personality traits and success both intrinsic and

extrinsic. We could draw the following conclusions from literature review.Most researchers

linking traits to success believe that trait is a second level trait dependent on primary personality

traits. We mainly concentrated on knowledge work based theories for intrinsic success factors.

Relationship Studies

Equanimity is negatively correlated to

intrinsic career success

Furnham&Zacherl, 1986; Smith, Organ, & Near, 1983;

Tokar&Subich, 1997; Judge and Locke (1993); Brief,

Butcher, & Roberson, 1995; Watson & Slack, 1993

Extraversion is positively correlated

with intrinsic career success

Watson and Clark (1997) ; Furnam&Zacherl, 1986;

Tokar&Subich, 1997; Watson & Slack, 1993

Equanimity is negatively correlated with

extrinsic career success

Rawls and Rawls (1968) ; Melamed, 1996a, 1996b; Harrell,

1969; Harrell & Alpert, 1989

Extraversion is positively correlated

with extrinsic career success

Rawls and Rawls (1968); Melamed, 1996a, 1996b; Caspi,

Elder, and Bem (1988) ; Howard and Bray (1994)

Conscientiousness is positively

correlated with extrinsic career success

Barrick& Mount, 1991; McCrae & Costa, 1991; Orpen

(1983); Howard & Bray, 1994; Jones & Whitmore, 1995;

Barrick& Mount, 1991; Salgado, 1997

General mental ability is positively

correlated with extrinsic career success.

No correlation between mental ability

and intrinsic career success.

Ganzach 2003 argues, this apparent paradox may be due to

offsetting effects-intelligence increases job satisfaction

indirectly by contributing to extrinsic success, but this

advantage may be offset by the tendency of intelligent

individuals to be more critical (perhaps due to higher

aspirations) in evaluating their jobs.

Problem with trait theories of success:

A preliminary search on major books on success brought forward their own traits linking the

same to success.Within a theory we foundcontradictions egMastery and Well Roundedness are

contradictory. There are countless books on success and traits: our estimate is there would be at

least 500 traits. Some major problems are better explained with examples.Same traits can cause

both success and failuresame trait different behavior. Trait definitions and effect on success

change with time-EQ these day is more important than IQ.

Learning for IIM B students

Same traits can cause both success and failuresame trait different behavior

S.No Trait Success behavior Failure behavior

1 Excitable Empathy and concern Emotional explosiveness

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2 Skeptical Social and Political Insight Excessive suspicion

3 Cautious Evaluates risks appropriately Indecisiveness and risk aversion

4 Reserved Emotionally unflappable Insensitive and poor

communication

5 Leisurely Good Social Skills Passive Aggression

6 Bold Courage and energy Overbearing and manipulative7 Mischievous Unafraid of risk Reckless and deceitful

8 Colorful Celebrations and Entertainment Impulsive and distractible

9 Imaginative Creativity and Vision Bad ideas

10 Diligent Hard work and high standards Micromanagement

11 Dutiful Corporate Citizenship Indecisiveness

Trait definitions and effect on success change with time-EQ more Important than IQ

When most psychologists wrote about intelligence, they mostly concentrated on the cognitive

aspects. However most of the researchers like David Wechsler, Robert Thorndike, and

Hemphill etc. stressed the importance non-cognitive aspects as also requirements for successxi

.

A depictive example concerning the equal importance of EQ to that of an IQ can be given as

below. One needs a very high IQ to get admission into a college like IIMB; there is no ruling

away of that. Once you are admitted, however, what matters in terms ofhow you do compared

to your peers has less to do with IQ differences and more to do with socialand emotional

factors. Goleman stated, at best,IQ contributes about 20 percent to the factors that determine

life success

2. Human Capital Theory (Nurture)The Human capital theory is making a comeback. Human capital theory

xii suggests that

individuals who invest the most in human capital attributes such as education, training, and

experience are expected to show higher level of work performance and subsequently obtain

higher organizational rewards. According to this theory, an individual's career progression and

success is contingent upon the quantity and quality of human assets one brings to the labor

marketxiii

and that the skills and experiences that individuals bring to their work are related to

their compensationxiv

. To the extent that human capital factors influence the performance of

employees, greater personal attributes would enable them to better perform their job, and their

pay should increase accordingly to compensate them for the additional amount of human capital

required by their job. Recent empirical evidence supports the positive linkage between human

capital variables and career successxv.

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As careers become more uncertain, these personal and portable characteristics become more

critical, perhaps more than ever, for students that are facing different models of career

success.Human capital factors, including education level, work investment, work experience,

and the number of hours worked are each positively related to career success.

Simple: Time to burn the midnight oil chaps

3. Behavior based Theories

There are also patterns to the behavior of people successful at work. The actions and behaviors

one exhibits at work are the cornerstone of interpersonal relationships that exists within the

organization. There are certain behavioral patterns that exist among people who are successful in

their career.

3.1 Self-management Behaviour (Individual Level): It is the behaviours related to the

management of self and career. These behaviours include job mobility preparedness anddevelopmental feedback-seeking behaviours. The common behavioural of such people include:

xvi

Focus, discipline and persistence: They have a clear understanding of how their work willhelp them create the life they want and work incessantly towards achieving it.

Selfishness: Successful people know that their time, energy and money are preciouscommodities and use them only to fulfil their goals.

Responsible: Successful people have high levels of personal commitment and they knowthey control the outcome through their behaviour. They change their behaviour and move

towards the desired outcome.

Result-orientation: They understand that most of the times its only results that count indetermining career success.

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3.2 Interpersonal relationship Behaviour Model (Group Level):Interpersonal

relationship is the affiliation, social association and connections that form between people. If one

gets along harmoniously with ones co-workers, these positive interpersonal relationships will

fuel work achievement and success. Successful people are usually recognize differences in

people and be ready to adapt, listen proactively and are known for their positive interactions and

ability to resolve conflict.xvii

3.3 Political Behaviour Model (Organizational level):Political view on organizations states

that to achieve success in careers, individuals just dont rely not only on their skills and expertise

but also on their ability to skilfully navigate social and political contexts. Individuals are

motivated to engage in political behaviour when they suppose that doing so helps them to

achieve their goal. Personal needs motivate such behaviours. The need for achievement andneed for power are the two most important antecedents that motivate political behaviour at

work.xviii Research done by Liu and Wu states that political behaviour is associated with

enhanced career growth potential through increased personal power, but only when individuals

are politically skilled. This behaviour also helps in obtaining valued organizational resources and

rewards.

The effect of political influence behaviour on career success is studied by Judge and Bretzxix. It

showed how political influence variables - supervisor-focused tactics (manifesting a strategy of

ingratiation) and job-focused tactics (manifesting a strategy of self-promotion) were correlated

with intrinsic and extrinsic career success. The following graph clearly shows that supervisor-

focussed strategy resulted in high career success.

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The IIM B PPO behaviour study

We contacted a group of 15 PGP 2 students who received PPOs during last summer placements.

We have asked them to simply rate the following on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 signifies least and 10

signifies the most):

Question Avg. Score

Value of Self-management behaviour/job focused in getting them a PPO 4.3

Value of Interpersonal behaviour towards in getting them a PPO 7.8

Value of Political behaviour in getting them a PPO 6.2


These days being job focused will get you nowhere in life. It is very important to wield good

interpersonal behaviour. Supervised focuses skills are also important to intrinsic and extrinsic

career skills. With most of MNCs relying on 360 degree feedback the value of Interpersonal

behaviour on career success cannot be overstated. Job focus self-management is just a hygiene

criterion.

4. Structural Theories

Structural characteristics help individual in their career advancement. Under this approach,

certain organizational factors such as organizational size and internal promotional practices

influence career aspirants' success. The management theory of organizations supports the view

because it supports than compensation and rewards are directly realated to an organizations size.

This is the case because large organizations do more complex operations and the strong heirachy

aids in upward movement both in salary and in status. Recent empirical evidence supports the

structural approach to career pathsxx.

IIM B Student Survey

We asked a group of 25 IIM B students about whether they would join a start-up in the first 5

years after passing out of IIM B or they would prefer to stay at a big company. 64% said no.

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IIM B Student Survey

Though a higher percentage of students claimed that they would join start-ups; the history of

outgoing students betrays the claim. IIM B students just claim to be entrepreneurs. Thus, they

are inadvertently going with the fining of the structural theory and are finding high career

success at the beginning of their career. We dont say that this is a bad thing. Future research

has to be done though on high tech start-ups to find out the truth about the structural theory.

5. Situational Fit Theories

5.1 Person-Environment fit theory

Individuals and environments impose requirements on one another. One of the propositions of

the theory states that the correspondence between the organizational characteristics and the

person determines the job satisfaction and hence the success of the person. The fit if the person

in the organization has implications on his job involvement, organizational commitment, work

attitudes and thus work performance.

That is because of its inherent assumption that work motivation is at its maximum when the

individual fits the organization. This proposition is strengthened by both expectancy and the

reinforcement theory. Holland argued that, over time, reinforcements constrain individual

behavior to be consistent with organizational desires. That is, people who display proper

behavior and attitudes should stay longer, be more satisfied, and have the indicators of career

success bestowed upon them.

Type of PE fit: Person-Jobfit and Person- Organization Culture fit.

Person Job Fit First Level Fit: individuals' knowledge, skills, abilities (KSA), and other

attributes are compatible with what the job requires

Second Level Fit: individuals' needs and desires are commensurate with

what the job supplies (job attributes) in order to be performed

Person Culture Fit Congruence between personal values and organizational values

Please refer to appendix 1 for details on Fit for jobs for individuals.

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5.2 Organization Support Theory extension of Fit theories

Specifically, the in-fit individuals are supported socially and politically and those do not are

ostracized and undermined. Therefore those who fit in are likely to receive more support to

perform well, thereby increasing the likelihood to perform better and succeed better. Greater fit

leads to more challenging early career assignments, mentoring relationships and fast track

promotion ladders. Since early career success has been shown to affect the latter career success,

DtBertz strongly suggests that the logic of basing job choice decisions on immediate fit seems

compellingxxi.

HR Evidence for these theoriesour talk with a McKinsey Partner

1 out of 10 associates we hire eventually make partner. 9 of them either leave on their own or

are asked to leave. We have found that over 70% of the people who leave are not a fit either

in terms of skill or culturally


Choose careers more carefully. Just level 1 fit is not important. Level 2 fits are very important in the

long run. Join organizations you believe in not just organizations that pay the most money and status.

In the long run Intrinsic satisfaction and success will translate into extrinsic career success.

Organization fit Organizational SupportOrganizational success

6. Social Capital Theories of success ACCESS based THEORIES

Popular advice for getting ahead in one's career rarely fails to mention the importance of

networking for the achievement of career goalsxxiixxiii. Indeed, it has been found that the most

successful managers spent 70 percent more time engaged in networking activities and 10 percent

more time engaged in routine communication activities than their less successful

counterpartsxxiv . Advances in social capital theory have begun to provide a finer-grained

analysis of the ways individuals social networks affect their careers in organizationsxxv. Let us

discuss the most popular ones which have been widely accepted. We will later present a

correlation study to combine these 3 theories with the aim to come up with learnings for IIM

students.

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6.1 Weak Tie Theory

The weak tie theory (Granovetter, 1973), focuses on the strength of the social tie used by

a person in the process of finding a job. He defines two types of ties. Strong Ties are ties

between members of a social clique. Such ties are frequent, emotionally intense and involve

multiple relationship types resulting in quick spread of information to members. This

information soon becomes redundant and of little use. Weak Ties are ties between social cliques

or between members of one clique with a member of another clique. Such are informal,

infrequent, non-emotionally intense ties restricted to a single relationship type. These ties act as

bridges between social cliques resulting in new source of unique information and resources.

In the sample set it was found that weak ties were a source of information for most candidates on

job openings. Hence, the larger number of weak ties the larger is the chance of success.

Subsequent research has provided mixed support for the weak tie hypothesisxxvi

.

6.2 Social Resource Theory extension of weak tie theory

Social resources theory focuses on the nature of the resources embedded within a

network. Lin and coauthors (1981) argued that it is not the weakness of a tie per se that conveys

advantage, but the fact that such ties are more likely to reach someone with the type of resource

required for ego to fulfill his or her instrumental objectives. A contact that possesses

characteristics or controls resources useful for the attainment of the individual's goals can be

considered a social resource. Lin's research showed thattie strength was negatively related to

the occupational prestige of the contact (that is, weak ties reach higher status contacts) and that

the contacts occupational prestige was in turn positively related to the prestige of the job

secured by the individualxxvii

.

6.3 Structural HoleTheory

Burt's (1992) structural holes approach hits out at the very concept of bridging of social cliques.

He says structural holes exist between any two individuals who are not connected to each other

within a social clique. A network rich in structural holes provide an individual with three primary

benefits: more unique and timely access to information, greater bargaining power and thus

control over resources and outcomes & greater visibility and career opportunities throughout the

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6.4. Unified Social Capital Theory

From a study on the unified social capital theory using a wormdatabase database of people

doing research on specific worms the correlations between network ties and success outcomes

(research awards) were found out. Using this the best network path is suggested in learning for

IIM B students below.


Choose the best path of success : typical networking problem you choose the best path

From a practical standpoint, it may be best for a person to invest in the development of weak

ties to increase the level of social resources embedded in his or her network, but then to

invest (perhaps selectively) in strengthening those ties to increase the benefits actually

mobilized on his or her behalf.

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APPENDIX

Personality Type and Occupational Type According to Holland

Personality Type Prefers Activities such as Dislikes activities that Typical Occupations

Realistic Systematic and specificmanipulation of objects such as

tools, machines or even animals

Involve educational ortherapeutic goals

Surveyor, Mechanic

Investigative Observational, Symbolic,

systemic, creative investigation

of physical, biological and

cultural phenomenon in order

to understand and control them

Require persuasion,

repetition, or social

interaction

Chemist, Physicist

Artistic Ambiguous, free,

unsystematized work that

requires manipulating physical

and human characteristics to

create art forms or products

Require being explicit and

systematic

Artist, Writer

Social Manipulation of others to train,

cure and enlighten them

Require being explicit and

systematic, especially when

required to work with

materials, tools or machines

Education, Social

Science, teacher,

counselor

Enterprising Manipulation of others to attain

organizational goal or economic

gain

Require making observation,

and acting in systematic ways

or symbolical capacities

Business

Administration,

marketing, sales,

executive

Conventional Explicit and systematic

manipulation to attain

organizational goal or economicgain

Require sensitivity to

ambiguity, autonomy,

exploration or anythingunsystematized

Accounting, business

education, clerk

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References:

iJudge, Cable, Boudreau, &Bretz, 1995iiGattiker&Lanvood, 1988; Judge et al., 1995

iii

Jaskolka, Beyer, & Trice, 1985ivBlaikie, 1977; Schooler&Schoenbach, 1994vGanzeboom&Treiman, 1996, p. 203vi

Blailue, 1977vii

Korman, Mahler, &Omran, 1983viii Poole, Langan-Fox, &Omodei, 1993; Weaver, 1977ix

Gattiker&Larwood, 1988; Judge et al., 1995x

Judge &Bretz, 1994xi

Emotional Intelligence: What it is and Why it Matters, Cary ChernissxiiBecker, G.S. (1975),Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL,xiii

Becker, G.S. (1975),Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, .xiv

Agarwal, N. (1981), "Determinants of executive compensation",Industrial Relations, Vol. 20pp.36-45.xv

Tharenou, P. (2001), "Going up? Do traits and informal social processes predict advancing in

management?",Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 44 No.5, pp.1005-17xvi Article by Ron Finklestein, Attitudes and Behaviours of Successful People; Ezine articlesxviiThe 5 Keys to Interpersonal Success,http://www.wow4u.com/interpersonal success/index.htmlxviii

Yongmei Liu, Jun Liu and Longzeng Wu; Roles of Motivation, Power, and Politics in Career

Growthxix Timothy A Judge and Robert D. Bretz, Jr; Political Influence Behavior and Career Successxx

McDonald, P., Brown, K., Bradely, L. (2005), "Have traditional career paths given way to

protean ones?",Career Development International, Vol. 10 No.2, pp.109-29.xxi

Person-Organization Fit and the Theory of Work Assignment, Implications for Satisfaction,Tenure and Career Success. By Robert D. BertzJrand Timothy A. Judge.xxii

Boles, 1992xxiii

Kantar, 1977xxivLuthans, Hodgetts, and Rosenkrantz (1988)xxv

Burt, 1992, 1997; Ibarra, 1995; Podolny& Baron, 1997; Sparrowe& Popielarz,1995xxvi

Bridges &Villemez, 1986; McPherson, Popielarz, &Drobnic, 1992; Murray, Rankin, &Magill, 1981xxvii

Lin et al., 1981a, 1981b; see also De Graaf& Flap, 1988; Marsden &Hurlbert, 1988xxviii

Burt, 1992, 1997; Podolny& Baron, 1997; Sparrowe&Popielarz, 1995
http://www.wow4u.com/interpersonalhttp://www.wow4u.com/interpersonalhttp://www.wow4u.com/interpersonalhttp://www.wow4u.com/interpersonal

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